The Guardian Demon (The Guardians of Nine Heavens #3)

Chapter 37: The True Essence of Tsukishiro Ryū

The friends soon penetrated through the thick white fog - the gates to Perfect Silence, a place that was completely abstract, governed only by the force of Perfection, Tsukishiro Ryū, forever discarded from the world.

"Ugh, this place is unbearable..." Lutecia stuck closer to her husband Yuehong, so disturbing the fog appeared to her.

"It's because we're already within the Eternal Silence," Michael replied, "It is the territory of the white demon, Tsukishiro."

"It feels even heavier than in hell..." Samael snarled. "No wonder he's called the ultimate demon. He doesn't even obey the Black Energy. This place does not feel like it has any ties with those blackened forces."

"Actually, he's not really a demon."

Everybody glanced at Yuehong with astonishment. Michael raised an eyebrow:

"What do you mean? What is he then, if not a demon?"

Yuehong heaved a sigh. He began from afar:

"Back in the elder days, when the High Forces and the Black Energy had the same power, everything was immediately destroyed upon creation, and the great balance was maintained. The power of nature existed as the entirety of the world. Transformation and Perfection were the two ultimate forces, along with Creation and Destruction. The guardian of Creation was the High Forces alone, or, as we called it back then, the 'Light Energy'. The guardian of Destruction was the Black Energy respectively. The Transformation was governed by Nature - the combination of the two forces. While Perfection... was the Essence of the world. Nature and Essence could be considered the same oppositions as the Light and the Black energies: Nature is the turbulent, material power, while the Essence is perfect, stable, abstract force.

"When the balance was shaken (for the High Forces had begun to protect their creations from the immediate destruction), the entire uproar of the world followed: the High Forces began to create, while the Black Energy failed to destroy in time. More than that - the High Forces created a blended force with the light core such as Samael, who inherited the guardianship of the Destruction. Thus, the destruction was somewhat stabilized by the High Forces. Nature, of course, adapted to this circumstance - since the abstract rulers had begun to create semi-abstract descendants (like Michael as the force of Creation and Samael as the force of Destruction), Nature too began to give life to semi-abstract offsprings such as us nature spirits. Their supreme governor was I - the new guardian of Transformation. 

"What do you think happened to the Essence? - In the world fallen in disharmony, what was considered perfection was lost. The world fell into constant battles for domination - the new species emerging from the blend of the material and the spiritual powers began to spread and fight for their lives. Such a term as 'perfection' was no longer required. Hence, the Essence lost its link with the rest of the world. It did not give up, however. It too gave life to the ultimate perfect creature that would be both abstract and material whenever it needed. Since Essence had no material power, though, it borrowed some from Nature. The part they took was the very core of Nature, just like me.

"The creature they formed was like nothing that ever existed in Nature, yet a combination of them all - a dragon; the very first dragon to exist in this entire world - the symbol of Perfection and Essence. That dragon was first seen in our world on the night of the full moon, hence they called it 'Yuebai Long', just like I was named after the blood moon, 'Yuehong Huli'. In later cultures, however, he was renamed 'Tsukishiro Ryū', while I, due to my strong ties with the cultures of both the spirits and the humans, retained my original name. Nowadays, only we spirits know the Dragon of Perfection as Yuebai Long because he marked a very important fact in our history. He, as the force of Perfection, was able to give life to new creations using some of nature's powers. With these abilities, he formed the dragon civilisation which is nowadays known as the Long Clan. He is the dragon spirits' primal deity even to this day. Due to his unexplainable powers, he is often considered a demon, but in fact, he is more of a spirit."

The friends were dumbfounded - Tsukishiro was not a demon but a spirit?! However, Lutecia had other, more serious concerns:

"Wait, when you said Tsukishiro was born from the core of Nature just like you, you didn't mean_"

"Yes, he is my twin brother."